Balsa Baby

[Bill Stuntz]

The canopy you see is shaped like a vacuum formed canopy and only needs the transparency to be one.

That's what made me think of it.

 

[technoid]

That's what made me think of it.

I kinda like the slightly darker red canopy for this plane. But I'll see what it looks like when I create a color scheme for it. For some reason I don't think a clear canopy would look good on it, with the see-through red balsa look.

 

[technoid]

I just finished the servos. The outside servos are gone and the elevator and rudder servo linkage was finished. It's getting close to mapping time.

 

[technoid]

I found a little tweak I wanted to do to the rudder, but was very small. After that I looked at it and I can't see anything else I want to do so I'll either work on the physics or start mapping it next. I don't know what I want to do with a CS yet, just something to sort of highlight the plane. But not a major deal since this plane is all about showing the balsa buildup.

 

[technoid]

Since I done some mapping during the modeling phase I didn't have to map that much so I decided to map it. I just finished the first phase of mapping so now I need to do the 1x1 mapping to finish it.

 

[technoid]

I just finished the 1x1 mapping so now I need to update the color scheme. Then I'll do the physics.

 

[technoid]

Well I just finished updating the color scheme with the final maping but I forgot I still need to do the spec map for it. So that's next.

 

[technoid]

I finished the spec map now I need to do the physics or a color scheme. I guess whatever hits me first.

 

[technoid]

I guess some simple stripes on the wings will do. But I think the hstab and vstab need stripes that follow the shape of the parts instead of straight across like the wings.

Notice there's no shadows. The rib cages are a separate part "inside" the main part so the shadows kind of messes up on them. I really haven't noticed it before because I'm the odd guy that leaves shadows off. I'll upload a beta when I get the phyics mostly done and you guys can give me some comments on that problem.

 

[technoid]

After thinking about it a bit more I decided to go with the same stripes I put on the wing on the hstab and vstab. So here's a look at what I ended up with. I also changed the canopy from a darker red to white, that seemed to fit this CS better.

I'm attaching two pictures. The first picture is without shadows so you can see what I think the rib cages should look like. The second picture is with shadows and you can see how shadows are cast inside on the ribcages and muddy the look. Also notice the sheeting at the wing and fuselage (in the center) how there's an area that is broken up. That looks bad. Maybe if I recessed the ribcage a little more that would go away but I haven't tried it yet. Any thoughts on this guys?

Another thing. Right now the stripes are transparent too. So which way do you think they would look the best, like they are (transparent) or fully opaque?

 

[Bill Stuntz]

I think it looks perfect in the left photo. I agree the white canopy looks better.

 

[technoid]

I think it looks perfect in the left photo. I agree the white canopy looks better.

The trouble is you have to turn off shadows to get it to look like the first picture. (too bad)

 

[technoid]

Oh. I also made all the balsa "black" in the Spec Map RGB and Alpha Channel to keep the gloss and reflections down, but it didn't seem to help the muddy look of the ribcages when shadows are on.

 

[asj5547]

Would increasing the transparency value reduce the shadow effect?

 

[technoid]

Would increasing the transparency value reduce the shadow effect?

I don't know that would be something to try.

 

[technoid]

I worked on the physics today and just finished setting all the part positions and sizes. Now I need to go back and adjust the part weights.

 

[technoid]

I worked on the physics tonight. I adjusted the part weights and started working on the flight physics. I went through 3 different versions before I found something I liked. I tried several different motor and battery configurations but I think I found what I wanted. There's still some tweaking to do, but I'm getting there.

 

[technoid]

I finished the physics so I thought I'd upload a beta for you to play with. Let me know if you see anything that needs to be fixed, and how it fly's to you. The physics seem okay to me but that kind of stuff is very personal so you might not like it as much as me. So let me know.

The controls are setup for the InterLink Elite.

BRAKES: Up Elevator
SMOKE: Channel 7 Switch

On Board Cameras

F4: Cinema Cam
F5: Plane Front
F6: Plane Left
F7: Plane Right

 

[asj5547]

Thanks for the beta of the Balsa baby, it sure fly 'nice, very aerobatic yet rock stable, the color scheme is great, and the transparency displays the balsa work perfectly, I like the shadows of the wing ribs Etc., with the model on the ground.

 

[uncle twist]

Thanks for the beta of the Balsa baby, it sure fly 'nice, very aerobatic yet rock stable, the color scheme is great, and the transparency displays the balsa work perfectly, I like the shadows of the wing ribs Etc., with the model on the ground.View attachment 136946

Not to mention the tinted canopy, that looks better than the red or white. IMHO